Recording instrument.



No. 796,675. PATENTED AUG. 8, 1905.

0. RYPINSKI & L. T. ROBINSON.

RECORDING INSTRUMENT. APPLICATION FILED MAR.30,1903.

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MAURICE C. RYPINSKI, OF NEW YORK. AND LEWIS ROBINSON, OF SCHENECTADY,NEWV YORK, ASSIGNORS TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COM- PANY, A CORPORATION OF NEWYORK.

RECORDING INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1905.

Application filed March 30, 1908. Serial No. 150,134.

1'0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, MAURICE C. RYIINSKI, residing at New York, countyof New York, and LEWIS T. RoBINsoN, residing at Schenectady, county ofSchenectady, State of New York, citizens of the United States, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Recordinglnstru ments,of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to instruments of that character in which amovable marking element makes a record upon a surface.

When the movable element is pivoted and oscillates in a plane to make arecord upon a surface which moves parallel to the plane of oscillationwith a speed corresponding to some function of time, the record will notin general be truly indicative of the time at which it is made, owing tothe curvature of the path through which the marking element travels.

The object of our present invention is the provision of means wherebythis difficulty can be avoided. One embodiment of the invention which wehave made to accomplish this result contemplates the use of twocooperating elements. One of these elements is a straight edge overwhich the record-surface is moved through the agency of a time mechanismin a direction at right angles to this straight edge. The other elementis carried by the movable element of the instrument and consists of acurved marking edge, the record-surface, which is located between thetwo marking elements, being marked only at the intersection of the'twoedges. By giving a suitable curve to the movable edge a definite angularmovement of the movable instrument element can be caused to produce anydesired amount of travel of the point of intersection of the two edgesalong the length of the straight edge. By this construction we are able,therefore, to translate the angular movement of the instrument elementinto a straight-line movement. We can also arbitrarily determine theamount of right-line movement produced by a definite angular movement ofthe marking element.

For a better understanding of our invention reference may be had to theaccompanying drawings, in which we have illustrated one embodiment ofour invention.

Of the drawings, Figure l is an elevation.

Fig. Qis a plan view. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a detail. Fig. 4is a cross-section taken on line t 4 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is asectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2, showing another detailof construction.

The particular instrument which we have illustrated in the drawings isused as a voltmeter.

A pair of vertical coils 1 are mounted upon a base 2. The terminals ofthese coils are connected to binding-posts 3 and are arranged so thatthe coils may be connected in series or in parallel. Boltse, passingthrough the framework 4:, which supports and partially surrounds thecoils 1, hold in position a cylindrical block of magnetic material 5. Amovable substantially rectangular coil 6 surrounds the block 5 and hasits axis in line with the axis of the block. Trunnions 7 and 8 extendfrom the coil in line with the axis of the block 5. The upper trunnion 7is secured to one end of a helical spring 9, the other end of which issecured to and insulated from a yoke 10, mounted on the top of thecasing 41:. The lower end of the trunnion 8 is journaled in a bearingformed in the upper end of a threaded post 11. A binding-post 12,carried by the yoke 10, is in electrical contact with the spring 9,which in turn is electrically connected with one end of the coil 6. Asuitable flexible conductor 18 is secured to the lower end of thetrunnion 8, which forms an electrical connection between the other endof the coil and the flexible conductor 13. The binding-post connected tothe flexible conductor 13 has not been illustrated in the drawings.

In the particular instrument which we have illustrated the terminals ofthe coil 6 are connected to some source of constant potential and thecoils 1 are in shunt to the lines the potential difference between whichit is desired to measure. IVith such an instrument increases in thecurrent passing through the coils 1 will produce substantiallyproportional angular movements of the coil 6 through a comparativelylarge arc of movement. The torque tending to turn the coil 6 on thepassage of given currents through the coils l and 6 will be determinedby the proportions and arrangements of the coils. The movement producedby such a torque will be controlled arm carries at its outer end acurved vertical marking element 15, having a sharp lower edge 15. Thearm let and the marking element 15 may be formed integrally or they maybe formed of two pieces of sheet metal soldered together. The arm 14also carries a post 16, which is located on the opposite side of thetrunnion 7 from the marking element. The post 16 extends upward abovethe binding-post 12 and carries at its upper end an adjustable slottedplate 17. A wire or stay 18 extends from the plate 17 to the outer endof the arm 14 and forms a means for increasing the rigidity of the arm1 1. Stops 14 carried on the upper surface of the casing a limit themovement of the arm 14.

The marking element 15 travels over a web of paper or similar material19, which is moved in a plane parallel to the plane of movement of theelement 15 and in the construction illustrated substantiallyperpendicular to the position of the arm 1 1 when in its intermediateposition, as shown in Fig. 2. Any suitable mechanism (conventionallyindicated at 20) may be employed to give a certain definite movement tothe recordsurface per unit of time.

A pair of posts 21 and 21, extending perpendicularly from the base 2,carry at their upper end a bar or support 22. The bar 22 is formed witha rib or sharpened edge 23 on its upper side. The rib 23 forms astraight edge extending perpendicularly to the direction of movement ofthe web of paper 19. A transfer ribbon 24: is carried lengthwise acrossthe top of the bar 22 by rolls 25, mounted in brackets 26, carried bythe post 21. The ribbon may be fed from one roll to the other by turningknurled handles 27, mounted on the roll-shafts. Guides 28, carried onthe upper side of the bar 22, form means for guiding the ribbon 2 1.Studs 29, also carried by the bar 22, position the record-strip 19.

It will readily be understood that the sharpened lower edge 15 of themarking element 15 will press the record-ribbon against the surface ofthe paper strip 19 with sufficient force to make a record only at thepoint of intersection of the marking edge 15 and the straight edge 23.As the coil 6 oscillates about its axis the point of intersection willtravel along the straight-edge 23, and by properly propor tioning thecurved edge 15 a definite angular movement of the coil 6 can be causedto give any desired amount of movement to the point of intersection ofthe edge 15 with the edge 23. Thus not only can the angular movement ofthe coil 6 and arm 14: be caused to give a straightline movement to therecording-point, but an instrument in which variations in the value ofthe quantity to be measured does not produce proportional angularmovements of the arm 14 can be caused to produce proportional movementsof the intersection point of the edges 15 and 23 along the edge 23.

It is obvious that the instrument described will operate satisfactorilywhere the marking edge 15 always rests against the surface of therecord-ribbon 24; but .in order to avoid the friction which necessarilyresults from such a construction the arm 14 may in some instances bemounted so as to be normally out of en gagement with the record-ribbon.In such cases a hammer 30, extending parallel to the bar 22 and carriedby a vertical shaft 31, reciprocating in guides 32, carried by one ofthe posts 2], is caused to engage the top of the marking element 15 orarm 1% at intervals to cause it to engage the record-ribbon to make animpression upon the record-strip, the arm 14 being sufficiently flexiblefor this purpose. An electromagnet 33, having its armature pivoted atone end to the post 2.1 and at the other end to the bar 31, may beemployed to reciprocate the bar 31. The armature 3 1 carries a contact35, which engages with a contact 36 to close a circuit through theelectromagnet 33 when the armature is in its upward position, as shown.hen the circuit is closed by the engagement of the contacts 35 and 36,the electromagnet is energized and the armature is drawn downward. Thiscauses the hammer 30 to force the marking element 15 downward and make arecord upon the record-sheet. W hen the armature moves downward, thecontacts 35 and 36 separate and the circuit through the electromagnet 33is broken. The armature is then moved upward by the spring 37, connectedat one end to the under side of the member 22 and at the other end tothe upper side of the armature. This forms a means for obtaining a veryrapid reciprocation of the hammer 30 with the corresponding large numberof record-points, while at the same time it allows the marking element15 to move without frictional engagement with the record-ribbon orrecord-surface. No claim, however, is made in this application to theparticular mechanism employed for reciprocating the hammer 30, as itforms no part of our joint invention.

WVhile the particular instrument which we have illustrated in thedrawings has been described as a voltmeter, it will be readily understood that our invention is capable of employment with othermeasuring instruments than a voltmeter, and while we have illustratedand described the best form of our invention which is now known to us wedo not intend to be limited to the exact details of construction hereinshown and described, as

it is apparent that many changes in construction and arrangement may bemade Without 'departing from the spirit of our invention. For instance,instead of applying our invenvention to an instrument in which therecordsurface moves in the manner hereinbefore described it could bereadily applied to an instrument in which the record-surface rotatesabout a center or axis. In this case the straight .marking edge shouldbe placed radially with ing to cause an intermittent engagement of therecord-surface between the rib and the curved marking edge.

2. In combination, a movable meter element, a curved marking elementcarried thereby, means for moving a record-surface in proximity to saidmarking element, and means for causing different portions of the curvedmarking element to engage the record-surface for different positions ofthe meter element.

3. In combination, a pair of marking elements crossing one another at anangle and cooperating to engage and mark a record-surface only at theirpoint of intersection.

4. In combination, a pair of marking edges crossing one another at anangle and engaging and marking a record-surface at the point of theirintersection.

5. In combination, a pair of relatively movable marking edges crossingone another at an angle and engaging a record-surface at their point ofintersection to make a continuous record or mark thereon.

6. In combination,- a pair of relatively movable intersecting markingedges which engage a record-surface to make a record at the point oftheir intersection.

7. In combination, a movable element, the movements of which areresponsive but not proportional to changes in the value of a variablequantity, means for giving a record-surface a time movement, a pair ofmarking elements engaging at a point to make a record upon saidrecord-surface, and means actuated by said movable element for causingthe point of engagement of the marking elements to move proportionallyto the changes in value of the variable quantity.

8. In combination, an element having an angular movement, the movementsof said element being responsive but not proportional to changes in thevalue of avariable quantity, means for giving a record-surface a timemovement, marking means for engaging said record-surface to make arecord, and means actuated. by the movable element for causing the pointof engagement of said marking means to move in a straight line, themovements of said marking means being proportional to the changes-invalue of the variable quantity. v

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 25th day of March,1903.

MAURICE (J. RYPINSKI.

Witnesses:

LINZEE BLAGDEN, WM. H. LAMMERS.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 26th day of March,1903.

LEWIS T. ROBINSON.

Witnesses:

BENJAMIN B. HULL, HELEN ORFORD.

